The One True Vow of Love
by Sabrina The Scientist
Summary: A short sweet story between Lord Shaxx and the guardian (non-gender, Warlock) before Crimson Days. When the Vow bow is offered and the love of a guardian is put to the test.


**The One True Vow of Love**

**Hi All! I just wanted to write a quick one-shot between Shaxx and guardian (warlock, non-gender) in lieu of the upcoming Crimson Days. It's short and sweet, you have been warned. Get ready for some love and angst! **

The crimson blooms in full majesty were scattered about the tower, showering everyone and everything in a sea of red petals. It was that time of the year, Crimson Days. The time of the year where guardians celebrate their love and adoration for one another. The tower was filled with guardians exchanging sugary sweets and flowers. Tess Eververse was making a fortune off of guardians and had come quite close to running out of crimson shaders on multiple instances during the week. Yes, it was a time of passion and love and of respect towards each other. We all reflected on the past two years and all of the love that we felt in our triumphs and losses, the pang of the Red War and the loss of Cayde-6 ever prying into the focus of my mind. It was my favorite time of the year, the time of the year that I had made an official vow to one special titan.

"To all of those who claim this bow, I offer my hand in marriage! Take it or leave it!" His voice boomed this day about a year ago as he held out the prized crimson bow. My heart rose with elation and dropped at the thought of others potentially winning that bow.

"What are you thinking?!" I asked, I pulled him aside in the tower hangar after the crowds had died down.

"Aren't we going out?" I asked, "These past four years all you kept saying was how you wanted to be with me!" I kept my hurt and voice controlled, but I couldn't help my emotions from bleeding out. Just what was I to him?

"Then it has to be you who wins this bow." He said plainly, unphased by what I was trying to convey.

"Why make it a contest?! Don't you know how insecure this whole thing makes me feel? What type of stunt are you trying to pull?" With each sentence I stepped closer, close enough now to notice his breathing was even and calm his composure was even more so. I knew I wasn't his first. I had heard from Ikora and asked Zavala about his romance with Mara Sov, the Queen of the Reef. I had dared not to ask her during our previous encounters if she still felt anything toward the titan, I was afraid of the answer and even more so I was afraid of being compared.

I felt his warm, large hand on the back of my head, pulling me toward him. His other hand now around my waist as he pulled me into his embrace, his arm encircling my back as he pressed me to him. I was surprised, too surprised to react at first. Slowly, I placed my hand square on the center of his chest, my other hand grasping his shoulder from underneath the arm he had around me. I heard him breathe, a sharp intake of air, a sigh of content.

"You smell good today. Must be the Crimson bloom." He whispered, his helmet grazing the side of my face as he rested his head on my free shoulder. I shivered at the contact, I felt his chest rumble as he chuckled to the torture his touch inflicted. _The things you do to me. _I mentally swear.

"I helped put them up you know." I said. "Eva says that this year's bloom was really special, she hadn't seen this many flowers since…before the war. We'll definitely have enough seedlings for next year" I mused. All I wanted was for this moment to last forever, maybe I could get Osiris to help me with that.

"Everything I do is to make sure that you become stronger, my little thunderbird. You are the hero of the Red War, the Hivebaine, a young wolf. There are many titles under your name. You mustn't ever fall." He said, his voice low but held strength and certainty. He massages my scalp with his fingers, now intertwined in my hair. I fight back a groan, wishing he didn't know my sensitive spots.

"Still… I can't stand the thought of someone else having you... I get jealous every time people hound you when you run the crucible, it's annoying." I admitted frankly, grasping his shoulder a little tighter. I close my eyes, remembering our first meeting at the old tower. He was distant as was I, my face buried in a book whenever I walked past him toward the Vanguard HQ. Never could I have imagined that we would be more than just comrades and even friends. He tightens his hold on me, sensing that I wanted more contact and warmth.

"You're the only one who has seen me without my helmet… no titan, Zavala or Saladin, could claim that. I would be damned if I let any one but you see this face." His confession shocks me. I stood there in his embrace frozen, my breathing slows as my heart begins to beat a little faster. He lifts his head from his place on my shoulder and stares at me. He wipes away the beginnings of a tear in my left eye and then places his hands on my shoulders.

"I love you, guardian. More than you could ever know." He releases his grasp, my body already missing the contact. He turns to leave, I let him because I couldn't bear to tell him that I've never felt this way about anyone, probably even my past life. He stops briefly and turns his head slightly in my direction.

"That's why you have to win." I could tell he's smirking underneath his helmet. I smile briefly, sending him a nod of assurance as he heads back to his crucible.  
"I know my dearest Shaxx…" I said staring at the Traveler through the Hangar doors.

The air hums with electricity, I feel the storm building within me ready to be unleashed. It was the final round of the match and stakes for me couldn't be any higher. If I won this match I would be able to claim the bow.

_The Warlock is both the question and the answer. _I hear Ikora's voice in my head back from when I first awoken my storm powers. I begin to meditate as I channel the storm.

_What am I to you, Shaxx?_ I questioned. _Power and love, dearest Shaxx. _My answer. My eyes shimmer with an azure arc.

A bolt of arc light erupts from my being, my opponents surprised not anticipating my attack.

_Power can not be controlled, only channeled. The storm is raw power, be its conduit. _Tendrils of pure Arc light erupted from palms, chaining my opponents and almost immediately reducing them into arc dust. I awaken from my trance to Shaxx's voice announcing our victory. My partner elated, patted me on the shoulder in celebration.

"You did it!" She cheered, "You did this all for him didn't you?" She asked sincerely.

I turned toward the sunbreaker, slightly in shock from our victory and from her inquiry.

"How did you…?" I began, not sure if she knew.

"Come on hero! We titans have our ways." She gave me a final pat on the back before we transmatted back to our ships.

The ride back to the tower seemed to stretch out in a sea of eternity. My stomach as doing flips as the tower eventually came into view. As soon as I transmatted, I ran to the crucible operations where I could see Shaxx waiting. I slowed down as I rounded the corner past the vaults. Crimson petals fell silently as our gazes connected. He was holding the bow in his right hand, sheathed and ready.

"Guardian." He greeted, his voice calm but filled with warmth. We stood there, the moments passing us by. I took a step forward, my hand reaching out toward Shaxx. He held out the bow, ready to congratulate me. My goal wasn't the bow, however. I moved past the bow, my hand still outreached as I took another stride until I wrapped him in a tight embrace. I felt his form stiffen but immediately relax, the bow falling between our feet. I feel his arms embrace me pulling me snug to him, his helmet finding the familiar space in the junction between my shoulder and neck.

"Shaxx." I whispered, I rested my head on his chest sighing in content.

"Will you take my hand in marriage?" He asked in a voice that he would only use with me, gentle and strong.

"Shaxx, it would mean the world to me." I said, tightening my hold on him. I feel his embrace tighten slightly as he lets out a laugh, not unlike his joy when there's a kill streak. I hear him ask Arcite 99-40 to release "them". Immediately I see a flock of doves take flight into the air, their white feathers mixing with the crimson petals. I watch the spectacle before us, cherishing the time we have now and thinking about the joyous times ahead. A scream pierces the serenity around us, and I sigh in annoyance, it had been a while since doves had been seen in the city.


End file.
